Magic in the air Occidental Gypsy lights up crowd at Cochecho Arts Festival

DOVER — For the fourth Friday in a row, downtown Dover was packed with people ready to see an exciting performance put on by the Cochecho Arts Festival at the Rotary Arts Pavillon.

Fortunately, the heavy rain and thunder let up just in time for the opening act, Carol Coronis, to play some traditional Greek Gypsy tunes.

Coronas was followed by Occidental Gypsy, a jazz/gypsy swing hybrid complete with a four-piece band backing up the vocalist Jonathan Hurley. Donned in black suits with matching aqua blue dress shirts, Hurley jokingly proclaimed that most of their songs were going to be about women.

They played some of their older tunes, but spiced up their set with a few songs from their upcoming album. They even played the Hank Williams Classic “Hey Good Lookin,” which really got the crowd dancing.

Despite the still wet grass, kids were rolling down the hills in pairs as their parents looked on.

Freshly made popcorn and drinks were served up by the Dover Fire Department. C.B. Gitty Crafter Supply had a tent nearby where they had an array of handmade guitars made from cigar boxes.

“There’s a whole movement of recycling cast off items and making music out of them,” said owner Ben Baker. “There’s more and more musicians rediscovering them. We’re making musical instruments out of anything, from oil cans to hubcaps and cigar boxes.”

Baker was also offering a demonstration on how these unique guitars are made.

A lot of newcomers stopped by to see what the festival was all about.

“It’s actually our first time here,” said Portsmouth residents Denise and Mark Anakarberg while picnicking. “We like it here. It’s a nice pavilion.”

They were not the only new visitors at the event.

“We’re just in town for the weekend,” said Jennifer Moore of Ohio. Moore was visiting Dover with her friend Jennifer Gebhart for a yoga conference.

“It’s really nice here, it seems like a college town,” said Gebhart. Both said that Dover had been a great place to visit so far.

Some guests, of course, had been patrons of the festival for decades.

“We’ve been coming here for about 20 years,” said longtime Dover resident Doug DeDe. DeDe, like many other guests, commented on how much he loved the pavilion.

“I’m glad the rain stopped, I wish it was a little warmer though,” he said. “A lot of effort goes into this from the volunteers and the Chamber. They do an amazing job.”